Avatar: Heart of Fire
by arkticangel
Summary: Modern-timed Earth, where fire benders are supreme, and the Avatar hasn't appeared in over two generations. Seventeen-year-old Meria is challenged by Princess Karina to an Agni Kai. Meria's secret is revealed, and the Fire Nation is out for her head. With the help of an unexpected ally, will Meria defeat the Fire Lord and finally bring peace to the world?
1. Chapter 1

It's been a long time since the world was peaceful. In a way, it was. Our cities were always quiet, making sure that the Fire Lord wouldn't punish us for being too loud. He liked his kingdom being quiet, peaceful, and serene. But we were all tired of being quiet. We were prisoners in our own home. Wherever we went, there were firebending guards. The Avatar was said to be in hiding, and he (or she) was no where to be found. No, the Avatar hasn't been discovered. But I wouldn't blame him or her for hiding from the cruel reality of their destiny: fighting the fire lord and his entire kingdom.

On the other side of the world, it's peaceful. Such as, the air benders and the water benders. They were more than happy on their side of the globe. But, here, the fire and earth benders were under the control of the fire lord, Lord Zi. Our people avoided them. The guards and the fire lord, I mean. Especially my family. Like a chunk of the nation, my family was homeless. We occasionally house-hopped, or found a cave somewhere near the park and slept there until the next day. Today was the worst, coldest day that I could ever remember. My little brothers, little sister and parents were all so very cold. Dad couldn't walk due to him breaking his leg from a fall he had a week ago. And as for Mom, she was taking care of my siblings. Making sure they stayed out of trouble, made sure they were warm and fed. But, today, no one ate. And I was more than frustrated by this mess. I got up, slung my sack-of-a-backpack over my shoulders and walked off. Only saying to my parents, "I'll be back soon."

I walked to the market, where everyone was wearing a fur coat of the same color: dark, maroon red with black fur on the cuffs of the sleeves and hood. This was normal. As swiftly as I could, I snuck behind the crowd, slipped my backpack down towards my right arm, and waited for the right chance. When no one was looking, I took a steak wrapped in plastic wrap and stuck it in my bag. This was normal. Then, I grabbed apples, and stuck them in there. I started to walk away, happy with the food I'd stolen. Sure, it might not be enough for a family of six, but it's the corner of my eye, I saw a little boy with jet-black hair taking a chunk of meat, and running away with it. Normal. He ran so fast. That's when I heard, "GET HIM!" and saw guards running towards the little boy, their fists were clenched and on fire. I've seen this happen before when I was younger. They'd beaten up a boy no older than thirteen years of age for taking a banana. This boy took a steak. This is worse.

Automatically, I took off towards the boy. I swore, I'd lost him. But then I heard him scream, so I followed his pained shrieks. There he was, his shirt taken off, while two guards held his arms. A third guard was holding a whip, whipping the little boy's back raw. "THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR STEALING FROM THE FIRE LORD!" the guard with the whip exclaimed as he cracked the whip onto the little boy's back. The boy was screaming and crying so hard, that I don't think he had a chance to catch his breath. I ran to the little boy and pulled him with all of my force onto me.

"STOP IT!" I screamed. "He's just a little boy!"

"He stole from the Fire Lord!"

"I don't give a damn! You could just give him the meat. His family is probably starving! What kind of Fire Lord do you serve? What kind of king would let his people starve?"

Another guard grabbed my arm - my _bag_ \- and opened it. He laughed. "Looks like we have another thief, general." General? Ah, yes. I knew I recognized his face. His name is General Long (Daniel Myrick Long to be exact) and he has been the fire lord's right-hand man for twenty six years. General Long went to the guard and looked inside the bag. He looked up at me.

"What're we going to do with them, General Long?" the guard said.

Without taking his eyes off me, General Long said, "Let the boy go. Give him the meat. But let's take her with us."

My eyes widened. "NO!" I swung a fist of fire in there face. "I'm not going to jail!" I got in my stance that I was well familiar with. Dad taught had been teaching me how to fight and physically defend myself since I could walk. He's done this to all of his children.

"You like to fight?" Long said. "That's good. Because I just came up with a better form of discipline for you. We'll let Princess Karina deal with you." The two guards held my arms back while Long jabbed his fingers into the corners of my neck. I tried to scream, to fight back, but my vision went blotchy and I passed out.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

When I woke up, I was in a bath tub, where the water was more than hot. I'm pretty sure all of my pores on my body were open. I don't remember the last time I took a bath. I looked around, saw the gold-and-red painted walls. A robe and a towel on a hook behind a door. I got out of the tub and dried myself off. Put the robe on. Walked out the door. There were people in big, colorful wigs standing outside, sitting on chairs. They were sleeping. I tip toed away, but one of them snored, waking up everyone. One man that too big for his chair walked over to me, said, "Where are you going, young lady? We have to get you ready for your match!" My what? My match?

Then I thought about General Long. Before I could say anything, the prep team took me in the bathroom, waxed all of my body parts except my head, and put on this insane costume on me: a gold skirt that looks like something used by Egyptians back when Pharaohs still ruled. As for the top, a dark-red bralette decorated with gold accents. They put gold cuffs on my wrists and ankles, making the gold on my top pop. After they did my make-up, they handed me a mask. "Good luck, sweety," The woman with the bright-red wig said. The mask itself looked older than dirt, and the gold was chipping away. "Princess Karina will be wearing the exact same thing!"

"General Long sent me here to be punished, not to be prepped," I said. Not complaining, I actually like this, but something didn't seem right. No one answered. Then, it hit me. Long is trying to get me to feel like a princess, until the actual princess of the Fire Nation burns me in the match. What was it called again? Agni Kai? Yep, I knew I was going to lose. And I was going to get burned badly. If there's one person I'm terribly afraid of, it has to be Princess Karina. She's feisty, like her father, and has his strength, too. All of what her father is, she has inherited. And it's scary. _She's_ scary. She's about my age, too. Which makes it ten times worse.

* * *

I was escorted into the arena, where I saw Princess Karina in the other end of. I gulped. The seats around the arena was packed, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I wanted out. But I knew there was no way out unless I got burned. The drums started playing, and Karina pulled her mask over her face. I did the same. The drums stopped for a second, and then started playing, and that's when the princess took off towards me. Fire literally traced her footsteps. She jumped at me, her fist lunging for my face, and I dodged it. _Thanks, Dad._ I thought in my head. _For teaching me how to do this._ Every punch or kick she threw it me, I dodged. Her fire had licked my arm and I stepped back, suddenly frightened. I checked my arm to see if she had actually burned me. But as I distracted myself, she kicked my legs from under me and stood on top of me, with an arm extended backwards. With the other, she lifted her mask from her face. She took mine off for me, too.

"What a pretty face," She said. "It'd be a shame if someone BURNED IT!" She swung her arm down, and I caught it in my palm just inches from my face.

"What pretty eyes you have," I grunted from the force under her. Without her looking, I grabbed a handful of dirt from under me. "It'd be a shame if you COULDN'T SEE!" I threw the dirt in her face and she fumbled off me as I kicked from under her. Our masks fell off our heads and we didn't bother picking them back up. Karina pulled a dagger from under her skirt and threw it at me. It cut my thigh and my knee buckled at the pain. I shrieked at the jolts of pain that were surging through my leg, and she kicked me to the ground. I inhaled, breathed in all the oxygen I could, and felt the fire accumulating in the back of my throat. I exhaled, and the fire exploded out of my mouth like a bomb. Princess Karina hit the ceiling and landed beside me, bleeding form the back of her head. She grunted, rolled to her side and grabbed my forearm. I felt my arm getting hotter. She was burning me! I bit her hard and she pulled away. I got up, limping on my good leg, and dropped my body on top of her. She spit fire on my bare shoulder, leaving patches of burned skin behind. I felt it burning like lava on my skin. I knew that would become a scar.

I shook my head, whispered, "Sorry," And blew fire on the side of her face and down her neck. She screamed, and as she screamed, I felt a horrible jolt of electricity run through my body, and all of a sudden, I could breathe. I fell off her, twitching and then - I stopped breathing. My eyes were still open but all I saw was white. Around me, were clouds, and people. Different people. Water benders, earth benders, fire benders, air benders. All of them, crowded around me. In unison, all of them said, "You cannot die." And their eyes glowed blue-white. Then, I was back at the arena. Some guy in fire nation armor was over me, holding my head up as he pulled away from what I'm sure was CPR. I turned my head. Fire Lord Zi was hunched over, holding his daughter who was severely burned. By me.

"You electrocuted me," I murmured to Karina. "You tried . . . to kill me." I gasped for air, and pulled away from the guy who was holding me. "I wanna go home. Where's my family?"

"Take it easy," the guy said. "You must be very dizzy."

"There can only be one winner," Princess Karina said, as she blew fire at me. It exploded beside me like a bomb once more, and I blacked out. Again. Twice in a day. How splendid.


	3. Chapter 3

This time, I was in a room that smelled like jasmine and chamomile. White roses in blood-red vases decorated the room. The bed I was sleeping in was unbelievably comfortable, with warm, fluffy covers and equally fluffy pillows. Mentally, I checked my body. My toes were still there. So were my legs, torso, arms, hands, fingers, and everything else a human body should have. The only difference was that the whole left side of my body hurt, and I was naked. Well, partially. I could feel my underwear, and bandages wrapped from my torso all the way down to half my thighs. I looked like a partially-wrapped mummy.

I sat up in bed, feeling my body ache as I moved. Throwing my legs over the side of the bed, I saw a door open just a few inches. I saw candles lit in there. A bathroom. As I got up, my knees gave out and I fell to the floor. Why were my legs hurting so much? Slowly but surely, I got back up, and limped to the bathroom. There, a solid red kimono was hung up, with a golden sash to tie on the waist. I put it on, having a bit of trouble tying the sash around my waist, but eventually, I did it. I looked into the massive mirror in that equally massive bathroom. I looked like a mess.

Soon enough, I heard footsteps and male voices coming from the hallway outside of the room I was staying in. I blew out the candle in the bathroom, and hid behind the door, cautiously waiting. They entered my bedroom. One of the voices was far too familiar.

"Where'd she go?" That was the guy that gave me CPR in the arena. "Check the bathroom, lieutenant." He did. I didn't know what to do, so I sucker punched the lieutenant right in the nose when he came close. He fumbled backwards and landed on his rear end. I exited the bathroom, limping, and in a fighting stance.

"Take me home," I demanded, looking from the lieutenant, to the young man. "Now."

"We came here to check on you," the young man said. He looked so familiar . . . not from the arena, I mean from somewhere else. "My name is Bruce, and the man you just punched is Lieutenant Doctor Gunther. Just, please calm down so we can check on you. You've been unconscious for three days."

I gulped. Three days? How bad of a state was I in? "What're you going to do?"

"Doctor Gunther is going to take those bandages off of you and check how bad your burns and bruises are. We think you fractured your shin in your left leg. Other than your burns and shin, you're just really sore."

I sat down and did as I was told. Doctor Gunther gave me some painkillers, as he took some, too. I apologized for punching him in the nose and making it bleed. I was just thinking he was going to do harm to me. But, he wasn't. Him and Bruce were taking care of me, unwrapping the bandages in such a careful way, as if they were afraid to peal off my own skin.

"Have I seen you somewhere?" I asked Bruce.

"Maybe," he said, putting antibiotic ointment on my burns. I winced. "I'm the Fire Lord's son."

"The Fire Lord has a son?"

"My sister and I have the same father, but different mothers. Ever since I was born, my father has kept me a secret. He betrayed his wife, which is my sister's mother, and nine months later, I was born."

Doctor Gunther nudged him, saying, "Should you really be telling her this?"

Bruce ignored the doctor, and kept on talking to me. "Father has tried keeping me from the media since my mother died. To him, I'm a mistake. I was never supposed to be born."

"You weren't a mistake," I said to him. "Trust me, I know what that's like. I'm the oldest of my siblings, and my parents were never expecting, nonetheless expecting three others after me. I was a twin, but my sister was a stillborn. Doctors thought I drained my sister of her life. For a long time, my parents believed that, until my twin brothers were born. They treated them as if they were royalty. I had to tend to myself. Eventually, my parents asked for my forgiveness, and hoped I'd forgive them. It took me a while, but I forgave them."

"I'm sorry about your sister," Bruce said. "Must be hard losing a sibling."

"I'm sorry about your mother. Must be hard losing a parent."

He grinned. "Fair enough." He finished wrapping the bandages around me, and he helped Gunther pack everything into his medical kit. "I'll walk you out, Doctor." Bruce walked Doctor Gunther out of the room and closed the door. He waited a while until he turned around, and he walked quickly to me. "You need to leave."

"Wh-?"

"You need to _leave._ _Now._ "

"Why?"

"When Karina hit you with lightning, I knew you were going to die. So I rushed to you. When I gave you CPR, your eyes started glowing. Whatever you felt or saw, I saw. And it was the most phenomenal thing I could ever experience. I know who you are. I know what you're capable of."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Meria." _He knows my name._ "I know you're the Avatar." He whispered it, as if everyone else could hear. "I think my father saw your eyes glow, too. I'd rather not risk it, so you need to get away. Far, far away from the Fire Nation."

"You're getting a little ahead of yourself," I said. "I'm not the Avatar. I can only bend fire."

"Have you tried bending something else? Like water or air?"

" . . . No."

"How do you know you can't bend anything else if you haven't tried it."

"And even if I am, what makes me so sure that you won't tell anybody?"

"Because I've had my fair share of not fitting in. If you're the Avatar, which I'm pretty sure you are, you will have more enemies than you could ever count, and they will be out looking for you. You will not fit in, but you will have to try your best. They'll come for your family, for your friends, anyone and everyone you care about, so they can get to you and take your life. You need to flee while you still can."

I couldn't think of something to stay. The only thing that I could think about right now was my family. My siblings. "Take me home."

* * *

At night, Bruce snuck me out of his home, and managed to help me run through the Zen garden, passed the guards, and hide through the market place. Soon, we were in the park, where my family usually sleeps at night.

"Where's your home?" Bruce asked me.

"This is my home." I gestured towards my surroundings. "My family is homeless."

He wasn't phased. I was expecting his eyes to widen, but he didn't flinch. As if he already knew this. I led him to the cave we usually sleep in, and was greeted by a little dark-haired ten-year old boy. One of my little brothers, Tai. He had tears running down his face.

"Where did you go?" Tai asked, hugging me harder than I ever thought a little boy could hug. His twin brother, Zai, came running towards me, and then Jules, the littlest sibling, jumped onto Zai, trying to climb over him. She was only six years old. They all asked where I was, why I was gone that long, and why I was wearing a kimono. They also asked about Bruce.

Soon enough, my parents had woken up. My mother was the first one of them both to get up and hug me tighter than all of these kids' hugs combined. She cried and told me how she thought I had been kidnapped and killed. Dad hugged as all. Bruce stayed behind us, looking around for guards.

"Who's this?" Dad asked, nodding towards Bruce.

Bruce extended his arm to my father. "I'm Bruce Tren, son of Fire Lord Zi. I helped your daughter escape after she battled my sister."

"She battled princess Karina?" Dad asked, turning towards me. "Who won?" Typical.

Mom made a clicking sound with her tongue and said, "Who cares who won? At least our baby is back alive!"

Bruce kept looking at his watch. "Want to walk with me, Meria?"

I looked from Mom, to Dad, and vise versa. They nodded. "Yeah," I said. I let go of my family and walked around the park with Bruce. The moon was full, and there were no clouds in the sky, allowing us to receive all of that magnificent moon light. "I hope you and your family the best."

"Thank you," I said, clearing my throat. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"How did you know my name? I didn't tell anyone my name."

He smirked and said, "Please don't think of this as weird, but when I was a kid, I used to run away from home a lot. I'd always end up at the park or somewhere around the city. And one day, I saw a girl around my age, sitting under a tree looking through a basket of fruit that have already been eaten. She was trying to find something to eat. There was a family of four just yards away from her, sleeping. But she wasn't tired. She was too hungry to sleep. I was only eleven at the time, and she was, too. I bought some bread, fruit, and water for the little girl. I was going to leave, and then she asked me if I could join her. She said she'd never had a friend. We talked a lot, until she really got tired, and fell asleep on my shoulder. She told me her name that night. Her name was Meria. Ever since that day, I was too nervous to speak to you. Don't ask me why, I don't know the answer to that myself. But I would leave money and food for you whenever I could. Until I was fourteen and got caught by my father. He punished me by not letting me leave home. I still snuck out to see you."

I smiled a little. "I had a little stalker back in the day?"

He cleared his throat, and I could see him blushing. "N-no. I was just simply keeping tabs. Making sure you were okay."

"You're very kind, you know? For someone who grew up with a father who doesn't accept you, and with a half-sister who's tougher than nails."

He laughed. "I've been told that. My mother raised me to be kind. My father taught my sister how to be a leader, in his words."

"Leaders don't have to be mean like how they are. You can be kind and still be a great leader."

"I can lead. But this lifestyle they're keeping me in, it's not for me. I don't like being royalty. Sure, having anything you want with a snap of your fingers is great, but it's nothing when you aren't happy. What I saw back there, with your family, that's true happiness and love. I haven't had a hug since my mother died eight years ago. Not once has my father said _I love you_ or showed that he cares."

"I'm so sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be saying all of this to you. You probably don't even care."

"Excuse me? Of course I care. You saved my life, literally. You've taken care of me without me knowing and the least I can do is listen to you. Not all of us have friends to talk to."

"You're my friend?" he asked, a little smirk forming on his lips.

"Haven't we always been friends?"

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	4. Chapter 4

The next few days, I didn't get to see Bruce. Before he left three nights ago, he gave my family more money than we've had in the past year, and asked us to use it wisely. Then, he left. Immediately when he left, I started to miss him. I tried hard to shake off that feeling. Because, even if he would ever feel the same, we wouldn't work out. Just think about it, he's the father of the Fire Lord, and I'm the potential Avatar. His father would be out for my head in a blink of an eye. He's rich, I'm poor. Our lives would never intertwine.

"What's wrong?" six-year-old Jules asked me as I threw pebbles into the pond. "You haven't eaten lunch yet." She sat down next to me.

"Not hungry right now, JuJu. Share it with your brothers. I'll get something else to eat."

"You sure?"

"Of course." I kissed her little forehead and sent her off to the cave, where I heard the twins engaging in a small wrestling match. I threw more pebbles at the water, and watched as the pebbles formed ripples in the calm pond. Seeing no one around me, I extended a hand just shy above my knee, and moved my wrist the way I've seen water benders move their hands on television. Then, the water started moving upwards, towards my palm. Just inches before it touched me, I broke the concentration and stood up quickly. _Bruce was right. I'm the Avatar._

* * *

Before the sun had set, three middle-aged men with blue-silver robes appeared in front of Fire Lord Zi's home. I watched as the guards refused to let them in, until a loud, manly voice commanded them to enter. It was Zi's voice. The men with robes were in there for hours. They came out around eight at night, and went to a near-by hotel to sleep in. The next morning, there was a horn that sounded, which meant everyone had to be in the courtyard. My parents dressed my siblings in their finest clothing they owned, and I wore a dark-red tank top, jeans with a few rips in them due to my countless times of falling from trees, and black combat boots. Mom made me wear my black leather jacket I stole not long ago. The weather wasn't unbearably cold, but cold enough that I needed this jacket.

In the middle of the courtyard, were the three robed men, Lord Zi, Karina and Bruce. My heart almost dropped when I saw Bruce. Then, my attention went back to the robed men when the tallest one spoke. He had a short salt-and-pepper beard. In my head, I named him Salt.

"We've called you here today for one reason, and one reason only," Salt announced. "It's been seventeen years and five months since the last Avatar died. Yes, there was an Avatar. She was just hiding. But, today, my monk brothers and I have come here to find the new Avatar. May the sixteen and seventeen year olds of this fine city please step up?" At first, no one stepped up, but after a few awkward moments, some actually did it. And then, I walked up. Bruce looked at me intently, shaking his head _no._ I looked at him, shrugged, and sighed, focusing my attention on Salt. The shortest monk, who I named Shortie, cleared his throat.

"We have set up a room in the Fire Lord's home so we may speak to each individual that has stepped up," Shortie said. "One by one, please line up and follow us." The third monk, who was taller than Shortie and shorter than Salt, said nothing. We did as we were told, and we followed the monks single file to the Zi's home. We sat on chairs that were lined up in front of a stage as if they were going to present us something. But, they didn't present anything to us. They gave us numbers for us to go by when we were called.

There was a good fifty or more sixteen and seventeen year old teenagers sitting around me, and I wondered if any one these people actually thought they were the Avatar and just didn't know. I looked around and saw that most of them were terrified. They knew the responsibility of being the Avatar, and the risks that come with it. I think they were more afraid of the Fire Lord than anything else. One by one, they were called by Shortie, and occasionally Salt. I was number thirty-two, so you can imagine how tired I was - and to mention how bad my rear end was hurting from those plastic seats.

"Please sit," the Quiet One said to me. I could tell that that monk was exhausted already.

"If you would, please tell us your name and age," Salt asked me.

"My name is Meria Wallis and I'm seventeen years old."

Shortie wrote something down on a clipboard, which I'm sure was my name and age. "Do you think you could be the Avatar?" Shortie asked. My stomach had dropped to the floor. How was I supposed to answer that? No? If I said no, would they just let me go? And if I said yes, would they just stop the tests all together? "Just give us your most honest answer, even if you're not one hundred percent sure."

"Yes," I answered without thinking. _Shit! What did I just do?_

Salt nodded. "A lot of your peers had said the same thing, and all of them failed the tests we're about to give you." He got, picked up a rock that was as big as my head, and put it in front of me. "Try and bend it. It doesn't matter how you do it, just as long as you do so." I looked at Salt for a long time, then looked at the rock. I swallowed a lump in my throat and hovered my hand over what was set in front of me. With a flick of my wrist, I had taken off a chunk of the rock without touching it. Flabbergasted, I immediately put my hand back on my lap. The monks looked at each other, grinning. Salt removed the rock and replaced it with a bowl of water. This was going to be easy. With a slight move of my hand, I bended the water to move towards my hand like I did last time.

"Swift movements," Salt noted. "You're going to be an amazing waterbender." I snapped my fingers, forming a little flame. _Earth, fire, and water. Done. Was that enough proof for them?_

"No more tests," The Quiet One said. "It's official. We've found the Avatar."

* * *

I don't think I've ever seen my mother faint. But, she did. Salt had announced to the whole city that they've found the Avatar, and they presented me. After a moment of murmurs and whispers, the city got on one knee and bowed. They actually bowed. _At me. At some poor, homeless girl who was announced the Avatar._ After the announcement, I was led back to the Fire Lord's home and there, the monks had explained to me the following:

I was leaving to the Northern Water Tribe to learn water bending. Also, I wouldn't be able to come back home until I mastered all four elements, which could take a decade. I would be in training from day one and would only get weekends to rest. Even though I was anxious and nervous about leaving my family, I was more than excited to leave the Fire Nation, to explore the outside world. I haven't gone farther than the city I was born and raised in, so the outside world will be more than foreign to me.

The next morning, I packed what ever belonged to me, and went to board the monk's jet. There, Fire Lord Zi, Karina, and Bruce said goodbye. Zi looked like he could care less, Karina matched her father's expression, and Bruce wouldn't look me in the eye.

"The royal family wishes you the best of luck," Fire Lord Zi said, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it. Zi has always been a charming man, from what my mother tells me. Even now, when he's in his mid-forties - even though he looks younger than he is - he looks handsome. I guess I can tell where Karina and Bruce's looks come from. Especially Karina. The only thing Bruce has that makes him look like his father is his nose and eyes, the rest is from his mother, I'm guessing.

"Good luck out there, kiddo," Karina said to me. "Don't get hit my lightning." She smirked, and Bruce nudged her. "Ouch! What? I was just making a joke!" Karina and her father turned on their heel and stepped into their dark-red limousine. They were waiting on Bruce.

"You're going to be gone for a long, long time," Bruce said.

"I know. But, hey . . you'll be able to write to me, and maybe you'll see me on TV, right?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Please, Meria, be safe. Don't trust anyone." He hugged me. He. _hugged._ me. He smelled so good, like fresh soap and cologne. "What ever you do, do _not_ come back to this place. Stay wherever you are, have a new life there, stay far, _far away_ from the Fire Nation." He pulled away and walked back to the limousine. He didn't say goodbye.

I boarded the jet, and looked out the window. Bruce hadn't gone into the limousine. He was waiting for the jet to take off. And then, for the first time, I really looked at Bruce. I mean, _really_ looked at him. I never noticed how long his hair was - it was down to his chest, but today he kept it up in a slick-back pony tail with the Fire Nation emblem hair piece clipped onto it. I hadn't noticed how tall he was, almost taller than his own father, and how golden his eyes were. For a split second, I felt a piece of me hurt so bad. He's been in my life for years, and I had never noticed him until now. And today, I'm leaving to master the elements, and won't be back for a long, long time. I know my family will miss me, and a part of me hopes that he'll miss me, too.

I slipped my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket, and felt something metal and cold in my right pocket. Whatever it was, I pulled it out and saw what it was:

a Fire Nation emblem pendant. One that resembled Bruce's hair piece. I put it on the silver chain I was already wearing and let it dangle over my chest. Then, the jet purred as it took off, and I mentally said goodbye to my family and Bruce, the people I care about dearly that I left behind.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

**Ten Years Later**

The sun light had creeped in through my window - that I had forgotten to close at night - and it warmed the tips of my toes, urging me to wake up. It was nearly spring, around the same time I left the Fire Nation so many years ago. Today was the day I would finally be able to go home and see my family. Yesterday, on live television, a ceremony was held for me, asking me if I accept my responsibilities as the Avatar, and if I accept the consequence, etc. Of course I said _I do._ Everyone in the whole world saw. And what scared me the most was that maybe the people who want me dead might see where I am, and might come for me later and kill me. But that's not a very positive way of thinking.

"Avatar Meria?" Salt - who's real name is Eugene, but I decided to permanently name him that and he hates it - knocked on my door. "Are you awake?"

I sat up, stretching my arms high and murmuring, "Now I am."

"The jet is here for you whenever you're ready."

My heart leaped form inside my chest and I jumped from bed, throwing on a kimono robe and rushing to the bathroom. Quickly, I showered, got dressed, brushed my teeth and ate breakfast. Salt came in, and I looked at him. Age had hit him like a truck. He was now fifty three years old. "I didn't know you were in such a hurry to leave us." I stopped eating, and looked at Salt.

I got up, saying, "Aw, c'mon, Salt. You know I love all of you." I hugged them all. "I miss my family back home, and you guys have become part of my family, too. When I left the Fire Nation, I missed my family so much, and when I leave this place, I'll miss all you guys just as much."

He laughed. "It feels like it was just yesterday you mastered water. Gosh, you grew up so fast." Salt had become a widow twenty-seven years old, when his wife - who happens to be the Avatar before me - was assassinated. Even though I'm the reincarnation of her, Salt has viewed me as a daughter, since he was never able to have any of his own. As for Shortie - who's real name is Janiel - died of the flu five years ago. The Quiet One - who's real name is Oscar - moved to a different city to help his family. So it was just Salt and I, and of course some other monks I've grown fond to.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Salt said, hugging me tight.

"You could come over for dinner any time you'd like," I mentioned. "You're practically family."

* * *

The jet landed, and all through the ride, I held Salt's hand like a little girl holding her father's hand. Ten years of flying in this jet and for some reason it still makes me super anxious. All I could think about through the ride was my family, and Bruce. I hadn't received a letter from Bruce in four years. Even to this day I question why he dropped me like that. We were sending letters nonstop for six years, until one day, I stopped getting them. I wrote to him for months after that, but never got anything back. So, I stopped sending letters, and with each day that passed, I asked myself what I did wrong, or what could have happened to him.

"We're here," Salt said, snapping me out of my own consciousness. "You're home."

I swallowed a huge lump in my throat as I walked down the steps of the jet. Waiting for me, were people I barely recognized. But, I knew who they were. My brothers, Tai and Zai, now twenty years old, were handsome young men. Tai had shoulder-length hair, with a small, single braid just below his right ear. Zai had short hair, gelled upwards. It looked like a duck's tail. As for my little sister, Jules. She looked beautiful. She was now sixteen years old. She was now as tall as me. Her long, black hair reached just below her chest, and were in . . dreads? Hm, that's new. Red and gold-colored beads decorated her dreads and made her face light up even more than what it already was. All three of them ran to me and hugged me tighter than I could imagine. They've all gotten so strong. My parents had aged, as well. Dad had grown white hairs on his beard and head, and Mom's hair had gotten distinctively lighter. She had crow's feet around her eyes and Dad had smile wrinkles now.

"All of you are so old now," I said with a chuckle as my family hugged me. My brothers were trying to act tough, but even they shed a tear when they hugged me. Wow, how I missed them.

That night, we had dinner for the first time in ten years as a family. In ten years, my parents had rented an apartment, and soon enough, they bought a house. Now, they're working and they're no longer homeless. My siblings are much happier than what I remember ten years ago before I left. I was glad to see them happy. I invited Salt to dinner, and he gladly accepted. My family and Salt had a great time. I told them stories about my adventures through the Water Tribes and Air Temples, and how I learned how to fly a staff and so on. Jules and the twins wanted to know so much more, and I was determined to tell them every single detail of my ten year journey. Thankfully, all three of them are fire benders, so of course I was going to teach them how to fire bend the Avatar way.

* * *

In the morning, I left my parents house pretty darn early and walked around the city. It's been ten years since I stepped foot in the courtyard, or the park, or anywhere in the city. Somehow, I ended up at the home of the royal family. I felt my knees become weak but I refused to let them give out. I walked through the courtyard and looked to the balcony of the Fire Family's home. There, I saw a man stepping out from his room, wearing a black kimono. I recognized him immediately. It was Bruce. He looked so handsome. Then, a woman walked out wearing a dark red night gown, hugged him from behind and kissed him. I felt my heart shatter.

On my way back home, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around. It was Jules. "You okay, Meria?" she asked. "I called your name but you didn't ans-"

"Bruce has a girlfriend?" I asked.

She looked at me expressionless for a moment. "He's been married for four years."

I didn't know what to do or say, so I just stood there, staring at Jules.

"I'm really sorry, M. We thought you already knew and I even went up there to ask him on his wedding day but he refused to speak to me and -"

"It doesn't matter. We weren't together anyways."

"You really cared about him, though."

"Of course I did. But he's a married man now. I knew something was wrong when he didn't write me any letters for so long, but I wouldn't have guessed it was because he was married. Wasn't there a public announcement of their wedding or anything? It didn't air on TV?"

"Prince Bruce wanted it to be a private wedding for his nation and his family only."

"So I wouldn't see it," I murmured.

"What?" Jules asked.

"Nothing," I spat with an attitude. "Sorry. I didn't mean to speak to you like that. I'm just a little upset. Please just give me a bit of time to let this sink in. I'll talk to you in a bit." Jules went the opposite direction as I did, and I headed home. I was physically and emotionally tired, and more than ready for a good night's rest. I opened the front door, and stepped on something. As I looked down, I realized what it was by the stamp on the far right. A golden envelope. The writing was something like a work of art, and the back of it had the Fire Nation emblem. It was from the royal family. I opened it up and read it. The royal family invited mine to a ball to celebrate Fire Lord Zi's birthday.

My insides churned and I wanted to crumple it up. I felt my hands heating up, threatening to catch on fire and burn the invitation. But before I could burn it, Mom came around the corner and snatched it from me.

"Oh, yay!" She said cheerfully. "Guess who's going to Fire Lord Zi's ball?"

I gritted my teeth as I hissed, "We are."

* * *

 **Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is a bit long, but only because there was _way_ too much to explain and I wasn't going to split this into two chapters. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to review when you're finished so I know how I did!**

* * *

I don't think I've ever seen my family so dressed up before. All of them looked beautiful. Yes, even the twins. Tai and Zai wore similar tuxedos, the only difference was that Tai wore a gold shirt under his tux and Zai wore a red shirt under his. Jules wore a long, high-waisted red skirt that poofed at her hips and dragged a bit on the ground as she walked. As for her top, she wore a crop top that had only strap to it, which hung on her left shoulder. Was it then that I noticed her gold Fire Nation emblem belly ring. Decorating her neck was a black choker with a small, golden Fire Nation emblem charm hanging off of it. As for me, I wore a long sleeved, off-the-shoulder red dress that reached over my feet. Decorating the dress were small, golden beads, and around my hips, was a large, golden sash with the elemental emblems hidden in the inside of it. Since I'm the Avatar, I find it is my duty to portray - even if it is in secrecy - who I really am. And as for my neck, Dad had given me a golden necklace that went perfect with the dress. It's been a long time since I've done my hair, or actually had the decency to cut it. So, now my hair was past my rear end, and Mom found that unacceptable.

"You need a hair cut," Mom said in the middle of me trying to put on my necklace without it getting caught in my hair. "Come," she ushered. "This'll only take a minute." Actually, it took a solid thirty minutes for her to cut and style my hair. She cut my hair to the length of Jules', and curled it in a half-updo style. Mom had really outdone herself. "There," Mom said. "Let's go to the ball!"

* * *

As soon as we entered the ball, guards handed us golden masks. Without instruction, we put them on and tied the little red ribbons in the back to secure them in place. Classical music was playing, and my brothers split up to dance with random girls. Jules stayed by my side, looking for someone. I was walking aimlessly around the dance floor, subconsciously looking for someone. Bruce. I snapped out of it once I saw him stepping out from a room upstairs, and looking over the crowd below him. He didn't know I was there, nor could he tell it was me, given that I was wearing a mask. He glanced over me. Then, came his wife. I still hadn't figured out her name. Nor did I care.

"Meria."

Whoever that was, I wasn't paying attention to them.

"Meria!" Someone tugged on my arm and I turned around. It was Jules. She looked down at my hand. It was balled up in a fist, and it was on fire. I shook my head at myself and watched as my flame died down.

"Sorry," I said to her. "I'm just still upset."

"It's okay. But . . . come get some punch with me. Maybe something to drink will calm your nerves." I went to get some punch with her. And, as I suspected, it was alcoholic punch. I took the cup from Jules.

"You're not drinking this," I told her.

"Mom and Dad don't care. They know I drink."

"They do? You're only sixteen years old. When I was sixteen, I was struggling to drink water."

"I'm taking advantage of what I have," she said, taking the cup back and chugging the strong, alcoholic juice. "I'd rather be rich and happy than poor and sad all the time. I'm sorry, but what ever you didn't have when you were my age, I get to have. It's a party, Meria. Have some fun." So much has changed. My little sister, Jules, who was once so small and frail, I was afraid to touch her. She was such a kind, giving child, and now she's doing things for adults. And - my parents don't care? What went wrong? My brothers are hard heads and cuss likes sailors. From the looks of things, our parents haven't been teaching them the sacred and fine art of fire bending. What happened?

I handed Jules my cup, said, "I need a breather. Don't follow me." I turned on my heel and walked. No where in particular. I just walked. Before I knew it, I was down some hallway that seemed kind of familiar to me. I turned a corner, and it became too clear. I remembered it. Ten years ago, when I battled Karina. I remember sneaking down this hallway with Bruce when he was taking me out of his home and back to my own. My stomach tightened up, curling up to the size of a kiwi, and I felt my heart in my throat. Before I knew it, I was in the Zen garden, where an old, yet tall and majestic cherry blossom tree grew, and it was blossoming beautifully. There were two benches on either side of the tree, where the long branches gave shade to whomever sat there. Walking to one of the benches, I untied my mask and set it on my lap, staring intensely into the eye holes of the mask. What I was looking at - or looking for - I'm not sure. Maybe it were answers to the questions I've been asking myself.

Slowly, a handful of people scattered throughout the once-peaceful garden, and laughed wholeheartedly at some stupid joke the drunk guests were making. I didn't look up from where I was looking. Nor did I have any intention to. Until the sun went down and the drunk guests let out a holler, letting everyone around the world know how terrifying the night was. Irritated by their screams, I stood up and walked over to the light post in the middle of the garden. At the very top of the post, was a glass case, and in that glass case was an oil lamp. Around the garden were multiple oil lamp posts. It was like a clock, the way the posts were set up. Individually, and staying by the middle post. I shot a fireball to every single post, one by one, without missing, lighting up the garden with the soft, heavenly glow of fire. With a sigh, I walked back to the bench I was sitting on. I heard a _clunk_ behind me and I realized I had dropped my mask. As I turned around, I saw a young man kneeling down, retrieving my mask and standing up. Wow, he was tall.

"Excuse me, my lady, you dropped this," he said. His voice was like silk.

"My lady?" I asked. "I'm loving the classical vocabulary." With a grin, I retrieved my mask from his hand. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." I couldn't see his face because of the mask he was wearing. All I could see were his eyes. Green, like fresh spring grass. "Would you mind if I walked with you?"

"S-sure," I stuttered. I cleared my throat. "Sorry. This is my first ball, so I'm nervous." _Lies. What I really meant to say was: I'm really upset at a lot of things and I don't know how to put it in words so I'm just making crap up in hopes that you leave so you don't have to deal with my problems._

"It is? Well, why aren't you inside? It's a lot more fun in there. You get to dance and drink and if you're lucky enough, you get to speak to the royal family."

Oh, how I wanted to laugh. "Trust me," I spat. "The last thing I need is to speak to them."

"I'm guessing you and them don't get along?"

"Yeah, something like that."

He offered his arm to me. "Would you like to come inside and dance with me?"

"I'd like to know what your name is before I dance with you."

"How rude of me!" he grabbed my hand. "My name is Cabel Kjiin, and it's a pleasure meeting you." He kissed my hand and I fought back a smile. "And you are?"

There was a lump in my throat that I struggled to swallow. "I'm . . . Meria Wallis."

"What a beautiful name." He offered me his arm again, and I took it. We entered the ballroom, and I put my mask on as fast as I could. The music was livelier and louder. People danced happily to the music, and some were already way too drunk to even remember how to walk. Soon enough, Cabel and I began to dance. Wow, it's been a while since I danced like this. Arm to arm, we twirled and skipped, eventually stopping to catch our breaths, and then came a softer song, which wasn't made for slow dancing nor fast dancing, but somewhere in between. Soon, Cabel and I switched partners, since it was part of the dance, and I danced with strangers. After the sixth dancer, I was dancing with someone who's presence was far too familiar. I balled up my fists and tried to distance myself. But he wouldn't let me.

"Let me go," I said to Bruce.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I saw you come in when you first came back to the Fire Nation. I didn't have the gut to speak to you, but now I do. And -"

"Now? At a masked party? If you're that embarrassed by me, do me a favor and let go of me so I can leave."

"That's not the case at all, Meria!" he spat. It was time for us to change partners, but he ushered my next dancer away. "Let me explain. I know you're upset with me and I know you saw my wife."

"Yeah I did. Why didn't you tell me you were married instead of _cutting off all contact_ with me? I was excited to come back and tell you all the things I learned and experienced while I was out there. But it was made me _real happy_ to come back home and find out the guy, who I was in love with for over four years since I left, is now married. But I was a damned fool to believe to you would ever cut me the slack and accepting that _this_ is my fate. I'm the Avatar and I was going to be gone for a very, _very_ long time. You told me you'd wait for me, Bruce. And the worst part? I believed you."

"I thought you'd be over me by now."

"I thought so, too. But a part of me still had that little sliver of hope. You could've just told me that you were getting married. I'd back off immediately. Better late than never, right?" With that, I pried myself off of him and exited the front doors of the ballroom. I heard his footsteps.

"Dammit, Meria!" He exclaimed. "Just wait a second!" He grabbed my hand, hard. I wined and turned around. I saw Cabel walking fast towards us. He was a few yards away.

"Ouch!" I spat. "Bruce, you're hurting me!" Without thinking, I slammed a foot on the ground, causing it to shake. Violently. Before I could stop it, I fumbled and fell on my rear end. My mask came off. Bruce was trying hard to keep his balance. And then there was a heavy, dull _crack_ heard from behind Bruce. A statue of his father had cracked at the ankles and was now falling towards us. With one swift push, I made a powerful gust of wind manifest from my hands, pushing Bruce with my wind. He hit the side of the ballroom building softly. Was it then that I managed to stop the earth form shaking. And then I realized - the statue was still falling. Towards _me._ Before I could push the statue with my wind, someone threw themselves on top of me, holding me with one arm and bending a massive earth tee-pee above us with the other. All I knew is that I was holding onto that person with more strength than I had. I opened my eyes, and saw a young man with strikingly beautiful green eyes. Cabel. His mask had fallen off. He was even more beautiful than I imagined.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, lowering his bending arm and helping me sit. "You're not hurt, are you?" He checked my face, neck, and arms for any physical injuries.

"I'm fine," I said, half-smiling. "Thank you. I don't think I would've caught that in time." He smiled and helped me sit up, then undid the earth tee pee, revealing a crowd of worried, drunk guests. That's when Jules came out from behind the crowd and threw herself onto me. I looked around to find my parents, and I found Bruce, instead. Looking at me with an expression I couldn't put my finger on. He looked . . . sorry. If it wasn't for me pushing him out of the way, he'd be dead.

I walked back inside with everyone, and saw Bruce walking towards me again. Cabel put an arm in front of me, blocking me from him. "Last time I checked, she doesn't want to speak to you," Cabel spat.

"And last time _I checked_ , I'm the prince of the Fire Nation. Unless you want me to cut that arm off, I suggest you remove it from in front of her." With hesitation, and approval from me nodding my head, Cabel removed his arm from in front of me and whispered, "I'll be back soon," and walked off.

"I want to thank you for -" Bruce started, but I cut him off.

"For saving your life? Your welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to your garden to meditate."

"Let me say it. I want to thank you for saving my life. I wouldn't be standing in front of you if you hadn't done what you did."

"Don't mention it. Really. Do _not_ mention it."

"Why'd you do it?" He asked. "I mean, you must really hate me for breaking your heart like that."

"I'm not answering that question."

"Regardless of you answering that, I still want to explain to you why I didn't write to you for so long."

"You have a minute. Go."

Bruce took a breath. "I did it for my people. My father is really sick, and is going through chemo right now. Which meant either I or Karina had to get married and take the thrown. Otherwise, it would be decided through the old-fashioned way: Agni Kai. And I wasn't going to burn my sister. My father found a princess from the western fire nation and after two months of dating, we married. It was fast, but we didn't want to waste time. If my father died, we were the next family to the thrown."

"That still doesn't explain why you could write to me and say, _hey, guess what? I'm forcing myself to marry some girl I've only known for two months because my father is dying and I don't want to burn my sister. Good luck with that Avatar business!_ "

"Because my father was furious when he found out I was still writing to you when I was married to Yuki." _Okay, so his wife's name is Yuki._ "He said it was disgraceful. I tried sneaking a later here and there but he always managed to catch me."

"Nice to know." I checked my watch. "You passed your minute by twenty seconds. I'm going home. Tell your father I said happy birthday." Without a goodbye said to Bruce, I walked home, while my family took their limousine. They offered me a ride but I was more than happy just walking home. So, I did. I walked home. The night was getting chillier and I knew I had a lot more to go if I wanted to get home before midnight, and it was already 11:20 p.m.

"Meria!" I recognized that voice. It was Cabel. "God, you walk fast!" He stopped to catch his breath. "You forgot . . this." He extended his hand and held out my mask.

"I didn't need that, you know," I said to him.

He laughed. "Yeah, I know, I just needed an excuse to talk to you." Cabel extended his hand and I took back my mask. He walked with me all the way home, _still_ making sure I wasn't injured when he pushed me on the ground. "I didn't know you were the Avatar until you air bended that snobby prince away from you. I'm guessing you and him don't get along?"

I chuckled. "Long story for another time." The air picked up and it got chillier, and Cabel took off his coat and put it around me. "Thanks," I said, trying my hardest not to blush. "I didn't know you were an earth bender. Well, I kind of guessed because of your eyes, but I didn't know for sure."

"Yeah, I'm the only earth bender within my siblings. My dad's a fire bender and my mom's an earth bender. I'm the baby of the family. Mom was trying so hard to have a child that earth bends but they all came out fire benders. Until I - the late baby - was born. My parents are old. _Really_ old." I told him how I'm the oldest, and we're all fire benders.

Until we got to my house, and I felt that something didn't feel right. The lights were still out, and I knew that my family doesn't go to sleep until really late at night, so this was odd. I opened my front door and saw chairs broken into pieces, tables knocked over, papers burned to ashes and torn apart.

"MOM?" I screamed into the house. "DAD? JULES?" I ran upstairs. "ZAI? TAI? DAD? MOM!?" I ran throughout the house screaming for them. Until I ran downstairs with tears running down my face. "They're not here!"

"Calm down," Cabel said, rubbing my shoulders. "Maybe they got delayed in traffic."

"The dress that my sister wore is on her bed! My brothers' clothes are in the laundry basket in their rooms. They were here!" I thought I was going crazy. "Someone came in here and took my family." My tears of despair were now tears of anger. I was furious. I entered my room for the first time that night. It was untouched. Except for the crimson-red note stuck onto my mirror. _Come find your family, half way across the world. Good lucky, Avatar._

* * *

 **Please review so I know how I did!**


	7. Chapter 7

Right after I found the letter, I found a book resting on top of my pillow. It's title was, _Wonders of the World_ by Hugh Jain Gau. It was about beautiful, historical cities and buildings throughout the world. I knew because I read this a few years ago, repeatedly, while learning how to air bend back at the Northern Air Temple. On the first page, was a cut-out picture of the Earth kingdom. On the back of the picture was the following written words: _What you're looking for is deep within the center of the Earth Kingdom._ I shoved the picture back into the book and exited my house.

"I'm going to the Earth Kingdom," I told Cabel. "The first clue to where my parents are is somewhere in there and I have to find them."

"You're _what?_ You're crazy, right? What if it's just a set up?"

"I don't care. They have my family and I'm bringing them back home."

"You can't go by yourself."

An eyebrow of mine had raised without me wanting it to. "You'll be surprised on what I can and cannot do. And _this_ is one of the things I can do with my hands behind my back. Sorry, but, I'm going. Whether you like it or not." I walked passed him, only for him to grab onto my forearm.

"Wait," Cabel said. "I'm going with you."

"You are?"

"Of course. You need a right-hand man when things get too tough, don't you?" he asked, chuckling. "I have your back if you have mine."

With a nod, I agreed to let him tag along, and we went to the closest air port. For some reason, the landing port for the Earth Kingdom had been shut down. The clerk behind the counter said something about there being a new landing strip being made, and no plane can land there for a few days. To me, it sounded sketchy. But, for the clerk, all it meant was that we had to find a new way to the Earth Kingdom. It was at least three days on foot for us if we decided to walk. Cabel led me to his uncle's animal farm, where he tried to convince his uncle to let us borrow two of his finest horse dogs. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I gritted my teeth, because I knew what I would have to do in order to find gas-less transportation. I knew where to get it, but I didn't want to go there and ask. To my luck, it ended up coming to that conclusion.

I knocked on the royal family's door. The guards stood by. Yuki opened the door. She was a beautiful young woman, tall and curvy, with wavy, black hair and almond-shaped golden eyes.

"Yes?" she asked, eyeballing me up and down.

"We're here to speak to Bruce," I said to her.

"I'm afraid he's n-" before she could finish, Bruce said, "Yuki? Who is it?" Then, Bruce stepped from behind Yuki and held the door open. "Good afternoon, Cabel and Meria." He looked at Cabel in a sour way when he said his name, and half-smiled when he saw me. "The both of you look strapped up and ready for an adventure!" He chuckled.

"We need to speak to you," I told him.

Bruce looked at Yuki and asked if she could check on the food that he was cooking. Then, she left. "Come in," he said to the both of us. "So, what brings you to my humble abode?"

"My family was kidnapped last night," I said bluntly.

"And we need a way to get to the Earth Kingdom," Cabel added.

"Whoa," Bruce said, stopping us form saying anything else. "So, you mean to tell me, your family was kidnapped and you know where they are?"

"No," I answered. "I mean, whoever took my family left a book of pictures and hints or riddles or something and to find my family, we have to figure out the riddles or hints. I need a way to get to the Earth Kingdom, Bruce. And right now, you're my only hope of getting there."

He didn't say anything for a while, he just stared at me. I felt my palms sweat by just staring at him. I had forgiven him after the ball, when he explained what had happened throughout the years he hadn't kept contact with me. "Alright," he said. "I'll get us transportation."

"YES!" I cheered. "Wait . . us?"

"Us," Bruce repeated. "I'm coming with you."

"Don't you have a nation to run?" Cabel asked.

"My sister is coming here tomorrow to surprise my father. She'll be in charge of my nation until further notice. And my wife will stay here with Karina. They get along pretty well, so it shouldn't be a problem."

I gritted my teeth. I suspected that he'd do something like this. "Sure," I said. "Pack what ever you can as fast as possible and let's get going. I can't waste any time."

* * *

Bruce had taken the last two solar-powered motorcycles - or as he likes to call them, _fire_ cycles - and since there were three people, and Bruce and Cabel refused to share one motorcycle, I had to sit behind one of them. Bruce had the most things packed behind him, so I sat behind Cabel. It was a long, hot drive through the desert. Every bump that passed, I clung onto Cabel like a cat clinging onto a ceiling. Every time it got hot, I air bended the air around us, and it started to pick back up, and the wind felt great when it was slightly passing hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Every once in a while, I felt Bruce looking at me, and I refused to make awkward eye contact with him. It wasn't until he swerved to the side of us that I looked at him. He held my gaze for what seemed like forever, and I remembered that look. It was the same look he gave me when I was boarding that jet ten years ago. It was as if he was letting me go. He smiled at me, and I half-smiled back.

Then, the ride put me right to sleep. The only reason I woke up - three hours later - was because I felt it get cold real fast. And because Cabel stopped the bike. All of us got off our motorcycle and parked it under a dried, withered tree.

"We'll camp here for the night," Bruce said. I started up the fire, which wasn't difficult at all, and watched as Bruce and Cabel struggled to take their things off of the bikes. Soon enough, we all had blankets to protect ourselves from the harsh cold that the desert brought to us, and we decided to tell stories. First it was Cabel, then Bruce, then it was my turn. I told a couple - I actually had a lot of stories to tell, but ten years worth of stories was too much to tell in just a few hours. I told about how I got to speak with some of the Avatars when I entered the Avatar state. And how I learned how to ride a flying bison. And so forth.

"Must've been nice," Bruce spoke. "To travel the world and learn all kinds of different things."

* * *

 **Bruce's POV**

It was late at night, and Meria had fallen asleep already. Her friend Cabel was a few feet away from her, also asleep. I couldn't sleep, though. I was too busy thinking about all that happened in the last forty-eight hours. I expected Meria to be beautiful, as she always has been, but now, after ten years of not seeing her, she's changed. Her body has matured and she looks stunning. Her personality hasn't changed since she left. And all I could think was: _I missed out on ten years of her life. And what did she come home to find? Me as a married man._ I knew she was angry with me. Sure, it didn't seem like she was angry anymore, but I could feel it. I felt her slight anger and betrayal. I knew she was still hurt, and I'm eternally sorry for hurting her.

I missed her.

Ten years went by fast, and I'm regretting everything I did. She didn't deserve this.

I watched her as she slept. Gosh, she was such a restless sleeper. She rolled around, accidentally undoing her braid as she unconsciously tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in. After fifteen minutes of her just laying there, her knee twitched and she sat up, eyes wide and afraid. She looked around, confused and terrified at her surroundings.

"Meria?" I said, crawling to her. "You okay?"

She was bewildered, at what, I don't know. But she was breathing heavy. Her hair was messy and wavy, and one of her sleeves had fallen down her shoulder. It was that type of messy that you find attractive in all girls. To me, there was no other woman that could compare to Meria. I tried to touch her, but she grabbed my hand, stopping me from doing so. She held it there, and I could feel her pulse as she shook.

"Meria?" I said again.

She shook her head, staring at the ground. "N-nightmare," she murmured. Slowly, she let go of my hand. I saw her lip quivering and she lost it. Meria covered her face with her hands and cried. "They're gone!"

"Who?" I asked.

"My family. I don't know if they're alive or dead. I don't know if they're being fed or starved or tortured! I came back to stay with them, and they were taken away from me. Right from under my nose." She cried harder. I was surprised Cabel hadn't woken up already.

"It'll be okay," I assured, getting close to her and hugging her. I felt her try to pull away, but I put my hand on her head, stroking her. "Your family is going to be fine. If they how hard you were working at trying to find them, they'd be so proud." She didn't say anything else. She just clung onto me as hard as she could. I felt my shirt become moist from her tears. It was hard to pretend I didn't care for her more than a friend, because I'm married, but this hug said more to me than I expected. This was the first time we've hugged each other in ten years. It felt great.

Meria pulled away from the hug, and looked at me. The whites of her eyes were red from crying, and her iris was a beautiful gold color with rust-brown flecks around her pupil. I had forgotten how beautiful she was.

"I'm sorry," I said. "It's too early for this." She laughed a little, trying to joke. "I'm gonna try and sleep again."

"Meria."

"Yes?"

"If you need anything, or if you need to talk, you know I'm here for you, right?"

She looked at me, questioning if what I said was true, and nodded. "Thank you." Meria slid under her covers once more and shut her eyes. I turned around fed the fire some twigs and branches. I smiled a little bit when I thought about our hug again. For some reason, I felt silly for feeling this way for a girl who I haven't seen in ten years. But, I loved her for more than ten years. I've been in love with Meria since we were kids. This was wrong, I knew it was. I'm a married man and I'm infatuated with a young woman who's life is so much better than mine. What do I have to offer her after the hurt I put her through? Nothing. And I'm hoping she'll truly forgive me.

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 **Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

_**To the person who reviewed my story, known as Guest: Yes, I know that the Avatar needs an animal companion as their spirit guide, but unfortunately there are no dragons in my story. But I do plan on giving Meria an animal companion sooner or later. If you have an account on here, please inbox me and if you want, you can help me with choosing what animal I should give to Meria.**_

 _ **Happy reading!**_

* * *

We arrived at Ba Sing Se in three days, and it was the longest, hottest three days of my life. In Ba Sing Se we significantly cooler, but not cold. There was a nice breeze coming in, which made all three of us feel so much better. That afternoon, we ate at some restaurant called _The Kettle._ All through the while, Cabel and Bruce wouldn't look at each other, so their gaze was set on me. I wondered why they disliked each other so much. So, I started a short conversation, and made them talk. It was getting too awkward to just sit there and stare at each other while we waited for our food to come.

"After we eat," I said. "We're going to find the center of this city, and we'll find the next clue that leads to my parents."

"Sounds good," Bruce said.

Cabel looked at Bruce, then at me, then back to Bruce, and glared at him.

"Can you stop looking at me?"

Cabel looked down and played his thumbs. They looked so angry.

"What's up with the both of you?" I asked. "Ever since you two met you seem to hate each other and it's bothering me because we can't have a simple conversation here."

"Uh, we just don't get along well," Bruce answered.

"Is there a reason? I feel like the Fire Lord's ball wasn't the first time you met."

"No," Cabel said. "It wasn't the first time we've met."

"Then, tell me. Because this awkwardness is killing me and how are we supposed to be a team if neither of you can look at each other in your eyes?"

Bruce stroked his chin and Cabel crossed his arms over his chest. "You tell her," Cabel said.

"I'd rather you do that," Bruce said.

"Tell me what?" I asked.

"Fine," Cabel added. "I'll tell her. Bruce and I . . " he cleared his throat and sighed. "We're brothers."

 _Brothers?_ How can that be? "Brothers?" I asked. "How?"

"Remember when my father betrayed my sister's mother, and had me?" Bruce asked. "The woman whom my father slept with is Cabel's mother. He's my older brother."

"I was three years old when Bruce was born," Cabel added. "He should've never been born."

"Cabel!" I exclaimed. "What happened in the past is in the past."

"Trust me," Bruce said. "I'm not happy about my father's mistake, either. This might sound dark, but I don't want to be here. Because, what's the point? I can't choose who I want to be with." He was looking at me now. Cabel didn't notice. "I can't choose what or who I want to be. My father hates me already as it is. He thinks I'm a mistake. He adores my sister, but hates me. And as for Cabel, everyone loves him. I really am a mistake."

My heart sank. I never knew he felt that way about himself. "Don't say that, Bruce," I said.

"It's the truth," he said with a fake laugh. "I'm not going to lie to myself. I know I'm a mistake and I just have to put up with it until the day I die."

Cabel wouldn't say anything, and neither would the rest of us.

* * *

We went out to the 'center of the Earth Kingdom', which was a library, and searched for clues. I almost gave up. Until I saw a copy of _Wonders of the World,_ and when I opened it up, a picture of another city in the earth kingdom fell out of it. I recognized that city. It was a tourist city, fairly new - only two hundred years old - by the name of Ju Lee Kin. It was the type of city that had amusement parks and water parks, zoos by the dozen and plenty other things to do.

On our walk to nowhere in particular in Ba Sing Se, we ended up in a hotel of three stories, and we each rented a small one-bed hotel room. When I entered mine, it smelled like fresh jasmine and it filled me with delight. The room wasn't big, but it also wasn't small. The plus side? A balcony. I've always adored rooms with balconies. After I unpacked my things, I stepped out onto the balcony and looked up. The sun was starting to set and the sky looked amazing.

"You like the view?"

I almost jumped out of my own skin.

Bruce laughed. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine. And yeah, I'm loving the view."

After a while, he said, "I am, too." But he wasn't looking at the sky. He was looking at me. I turned my head to look at the people underneath us and tried to stop myself from blushing. Then it hit me that this wasn't the eighteen year old Bruce that once had my heart. This is now the twenty-eight year old _married_ Bruce, and I knew my limits to this friendship. I also knew that this journey would either bring us together or bring us apart, and that's what scared me the most. I had no idea if Bruce still had feelings for me. I'd like to think he does, but he's been married for four years. He's had to fall in love with Yuki sooner or later, and I doubt he's had space in his heart for me. Especially since I've been gone for ten years.

"Meria?" Bruce called. I turned my head. "Would you like to walk with me?"

I stood up straighter, holding my breath. "Sure. I'd love to." He smiled and walked back inside, and I let go of my breath. That took a lot of guts to say. But I did. A few moments later, I heard a knock on my front door. It was Bruce. I stepped out of my room in my mid-shin high combat boots with the sides folded down, an over-sized dark-red shirt and black shorts that no one could see because my shirt was too long. Bruce was wearing dark-red sleeping pants and a black tank top. He chuckled.

"I guess we're matching," I said, looking at our clothing.

"We're rocking our Fire Nation colors," He added with a laugh. "But, anyways, want to walk with me to the market?" I said yes, and we strolled through the dark market place. There was an indoor and outdoor market. We had bought some goodies and maps to use for whenever we decide to get back on the road, and so we decided to take a walk around the outdoor market. It was quite small, only about ten booths. They sold only a few items such as: clothing, jewelry, and outdoor decorations. I grabbed one of the silky red scarves and draped it over my head.

"Do you think this looks good on me?" I asked playfully at Bruce. He turned around and looked at me.

"I love the color. It brings out your eyes," he answered. The glimmer in his eyes made my stomach knot up and turn into a habitat for restless, fluttering butterflies. I felt my cheeks flush, and - to ease up the atmosphere - I draped the same scarf over Bruce's head.

"I think this looks better on you. Your eyes really do _pop,_ ya know?" Before I could even think of what I was going to say, I added in hushed tone, "Your kids are going to have beautiful eyes." I said nothing else, and neither did he. Bruce just looked at me with the faintest smile on his face. I cleared my throat and turned around, putting the scarf back on a hook where the rest of the scarves were. I wanted to punch myself in the face for saying something so stupid. "Have you and Yuki tried for a baby?" Yet again, another stupid question that slipped from the tip of my tongue.

"No," Bruce answered. "We have done the baby-making, but we haven't actually made one." He scratched the back of his neck. "Once, Yuki told me she was pregnant, and it was true. She was going to have twins. But somewhere along the way, she had a miscarriage and we haven't tried for another."

"A miscarriage?" I asked, stupefied. "Oh, my God, Bruce . . . I'm so sorry."

"I was mourning for about a month. She really wanted those babies. I did, too. I want kids of my own, but I wasn't ready and neither was she. I stopped mourning when I realized that maybe, just maybe, that miscarriage was for the better. What if the babies would've made it through the pregnancy and were born with a defect that would stop them from doing simple things like walking and moving? What if those babies would've taken Yuki's life and their own when in labor? I like to think that those babies are with the Spirits, happy and full of love and joy. They're in a better place."

"That's a very pleasant way of thinking of a miscarriage," I said. "I can't imagine the emotional pain the both of you went through."

"It's fine. I'm still upset about it, and it happened two years ago." He cleared his throat. "Anyways, let's lighten this depressing conversation. How about you? Have you had any . . . uh . . . romantic encounters in the past ten years?"

I laughed. "Not really. Well . . there was this one guy who was infatuated with me. And I gave him a chance. This was last year. He was one of the youngest Air Nomads in the Northern Air Temple. He was a very nice guy. A total gentleman. We were dating for about six months, and then I . . " I let out a breath and crossed my arms, slowing down my walking pace. "I left to the Earth Kingdom to speak to the Earth King. A week later I got a phone call from Walt, the father of my boyfriend at the time. His name was Rolan, by the way. Rolan was very sick. And I couldn't leave until a treaty with the Earth Kingdom was signed. That took two days because of some speech I had to do. At the crack of light on the third day, I went to the Northern Air Temple to see Rolan. As soon as I got there, I tried to heal him with water. God, he was so sick." I felt like crying, because I remembered Rolan as if I'd seen him yesterday. "There was nothing I could do. The bacteria had eaten up his stomach and rotten his liver. I sang to him until he died in my arms." My voice was cracking and I gritted my teeth. "His father resigned from the Central Monks and live the rest of his days at home. Rolan was his only child. Three months later, Walt died. They said it was due to a heart attack."

Bruce had his lips parted, but looked confused. "I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry for your loss."

"We've both been through some heart breaking things, huh?"

"Yes, we have. And I'm guessing, after what happened with Rolan, you haven't been with anyone else?"

"Of course not," I said, looking at a silver pendant shaped like a tear drop. "I didn't want to go through the pain of losing someone else." I carefully planned my next words. "That's why I came home to my family, and to you. But I had no idea that you were married. So, I guess, in a way, I lost you, too."

"I've been here for you since the day I laid eyes on you, Meria."

"You know I mean, though. I can't look at you as _just a friend_ when I've in love with you for God knows how long. It's easier for you because you're married. You have a beautiful young lady that you love and who loves you back and one day you two are going to have a family and grow old together and rule the Fire Nation. And as for me? Yeah, sure, I'll find someone to marry and have a family with. But whenever I see you on TV or hear you on the radio, it only brings back memories and makes it hurt that much more. Our lives will never be intertwined. I'm the Avatar and you're soon to be a king of a great nation."

"Would you believe me if I told you I didn't love Yuki?" He asked. I looked at him. "We were forced to marry each other. Sure, I fell in love with her once. But we have nothing in common. There is no chemistry between and, honestly, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else than right here." I shook my head and looked at the ground. "I'm not happy with Yuki, but there's nothing I can do to leave her. My father is getting worse by the day and my sister is in another part of the Fire Nation. I have to do this for my people."

"I know you're being forced," I added. "But what I'm trying to say is . . . I do love you. I've loved you for a long time, but I don't think we can ever work out. You have a nation to ten to, and I . . well, I'm not sure what I'll do other than protect the world from what ever will happen in the future."

Bruce sighed, and wouldn't make eye contact until he said, "I'll always love you." And kissed my forehead. "What do you say we get back to our rooms before it gets too late?"

I chuckled a little bit. "Too late?" I paid for the tear drop pendant and put it in my boot. "The Avatar has no curfew."

* * *

 **I'm so sorry I hadn't updated in a while! I promise there will be big things happening in this story!**

 **Before I forget: Readers can now Private Message me if they have any ideas on what they want in this story, or any new characters or places, etc. If you want your ideas in the story, Private Message me ASAP and I'll leave you credit in the end of the chapter(s) your character, place, etc. will be in!**

 **Happy reading!**

 **Please review to let me know how I did!**


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, I was the first one to wake up. And I had to wake up Cabel to make sure we all went to get breakfast. Cabel had said something about the market, so he left to get something from there. Then, I knocked on Bruce's door. No response. I knocked again. And I got the same result as the first time: nothing. I checked the door knob to realize that it was unlocked. Had he done this on purpose?

"Bruce?" I called softly. I knocked on the door again, even though I had already opened it. I walked through the small kitchen and entered the bedroom, knocking on the already-opened door before I entered. "Bruce?" He groaned and moved in his sleep. I chuckled. He reminded me of a child in a way. "Good morning, princess!" I laughed and he opened one eye. Was it then that I realized he was cuddling with a pillow in a spooning position. How cute. I walked towards him and sat at the edge of the bed. "I hate to wake you up, but breakfast is being served downstairs and if we don't make it down there soon, all the food will be gone."

"Eat without me," he murmured. "You had me up all night. I just want a few more minutes to . . ." he almost fell asleep as he was talking. ". . . sleep." He grabbed my hand and put it on top of his head. "Remember when we were kids and you rubbed my head until I fell asleep?" Bruce smiled and wouldn't let go of my hand. "It still puts me right to sleep." Practically out of instinct, I ran my fingers through his scalp. If humans could purr, I'm one hundred percent sure that Bruce would. Immediately, memories flooded my head and it kind of hurt, knowing that what we had before would never happen again. That this, what ever _this_ was, would only be here for a short moment. Until I found my parents. Then, what would happen? He would go back to the Fire Nation and go back to Yuki? Rule the Fire Nation? And what about me? I'll probably move to the Northern Water Tribe, like how Queen Colette wanted me to do. We're star-crossed lovers that would never be. And it hurt to think about it.

Someone knocked on Bruce's bedroom door. "Meria?" It was Cabel. I looked at him and slowly stopped rubbing Bruce's head. Cabel looked at my hand. Bruce opened one eye. "Sorry to interrupt," He said hesitantly. "I just wanted to tell you that the owner of this hotel made food specifically for us. And to just come get it whenever we please."

"Thanks," I said to Cabel. "I'll go ahead and get some food. Bruce isn't getting up any time soon." I did that. I walked downstairs and got us food. Cabel had already ate. As I was walking upstairs, Cabel caught up to me.

"So," Cabel said, elongating the _oh_ sound. "Are you Bruce, like, a thing now?"

"What?" I asked. "No. He's a married man, Cabel. Me and Bruce have been best friends since we were kids."

"Just friends?"

"At one point, we were more than friends. But we were also children. Then I was called to be the Avatar and everything changed. Now we're strictly friends. What you saw up there was something I used to do to him when we were really little. Some days when it was storming, I would sneak into the royal palace, into his room, and run my hands through his hair until he fell asleep. Some times I would accidentally sleep there. Our childhood consisted of sneaking into each other's homes and lying to our parents to see each other. Even though my parents were okay with it, but his father had a big problem with him being friends with a homeless girl."

"Now you two are on a mission to save your parents?"

"That's how that goes." I was right in front of Bruce's door. I knocked.

"Were you ever in love with him?"

"Honestly . . " I sighed. "I was head over heels in love with him. He was the only person who understood me. We were with each other all the time. I mean, how could I not love him, you know? But I had to accept the fact that what I imagined our futures to be was nothing like the actual reality of it all. He's married. I'm the Avatar. I've accepted that. I've moved on." Oh, how that last part was a lie.

Cabel nodded slowly. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine, really," I said. "It's no big deal anymore."

"Well, if you need me, I'll be in my room packing for Ju Lee Kin."

He went into his room, and I knocked on Bruce's door again. Yet again, nothing. I opened the door. It was unlocked. I knocked on the open bedroom door as I walked in. "Bruce I have you food- OHMYGOD -" I turned around and turned redder than blood. "I'm _so_ sorry!"

"Spirits, Meria. You scared me. But, it's fine. I have pants on now. You can come in."

I tried not to blush, but it was hard not to. _He was so big._ I turned around and tried to keep my eye contact. "I'm . . . uh . . sorry about that."

"It's fine." He added, smiling. "You're fine." He was shirtless. It's like he knows this is killing me. There were scars there that weren't there since I last saw him shirtless - slightly more than ten years ago. He looked like a god. "Want to join me? I hate eating by myself." I knew that already. He hates eating by himself.

"Yeah," I answered. "I'll join." We sat on top of his bed, ate, and talked. He was still shirtless, which was a total distraction for me. And I'm sure he knew that. Yuki was one lucky lady.

"What're you doing after all of this?" Bruce asked.

"I'm planning on going to Ju Lee Kin and find the next clu-"

"That's not what I meant." He finished off his eggs and bacon. "I meant, what're you going to do after you find your family?"

"I . . . don't know yet."

"There's a spare room in my palace. If you don't want to stay in your home, for some crazy reason, there's always a room for you. Meria, look at me, I'm being serious. If you ever want to leave home and escape for a little bit, or if you just feel distressed, please come to me. I want it to be like old times."

I looked at him for a long time, and let myself process the change in him since the last time I saw him, many years ago. He'd gotten slightly darker, I'm guessing from a lot of Agni Kais. And he had more scars, as I noticed before. His eyes were still beautifully yellow. That's the one thing that hadn't changed about him: his eyes.

After we ate, I grabbed our plates and washed them in the kitchen sink. I started getting dizzy. _Really_ dizzy. But I was stable enough to finish the dishes. After I put the plates up to drain, my breathing got heavier and I heard Bruce say, "M-Meria!" And a hard _plunk_ noise. Bruce had fallen off of his bed. I fumbled to his room and rolled him over on his back. He was out cold, but still alive. I was getting dizzier, and that's when the front door busted open. Two men in black body suits barged in and grabbed Bruce. I tried to scream, but I was held back, and felt the electrifying pain of a taser in my back as I blacked out.

* * *

When I awoke, I felt my whole body ache. My arms and wrists hurt. My throat was as dry as a desert, and I felt like vomiting. As I tried moving, I realized that my wrists were chained to the wall behind me. I pulled on the chains hard, getting up and trying hard to pull them off. I took another step back and stepped on something behind me. It felt like an arm. I turned around and saw what looked like could be Bruce. I could hardly tell, because it was so dark in here. But, yes. It was him. It was Bruce. I kneeled down and patted his cheek. He wouldn't wake up. But he was alive, I knew that much. Because he was still warm, and he had a strong heart beat. I was weak, from what? I don't know. But it was hard to bend anything right now. I tried metal bending the cuffs off of me, and after two whole minutes of trying, I got them off. Now, time for Bruce. I didn't think I had enough energy in me for him. But, I did. And I dragged him to the only part of the cell that had moonlight and tried waking him up again. Still, nothing.

I got up and walked to the front of the cell. Just barely, I could see the outline of someone else there. But she wasn't in a cell. She was just outside, slumped over a chair.

"HEY!" I called to her. "HEY! You! Please help! How'd I get in here?" Nothing. What's going on here? How did we get here? Where's Cabel!?

Bruce groaned behind me and sat up. "I'm never eating food from a foreign place ever again," he murmured, getting up from the floor. "Meria?" He stood up and grabbed the cell bars in front of him to keep his balance. "What happened?"

"I have no idea yet," I answered. "But I'm gonna try to . . " I grabbed the handle bars and tried bending them. Nothing. I was weak.

The girl in the seat far from our cell, woke up, and groaned. I recognized that voice. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. The girl turned around, only proving myself right on who I thought it was. It was Jules, my little sister. I screamed her name at the top of my lungs and she ran to me with tears running down her face. I was so happy that I couldn't cry. Jules is alive! Her being here had given me hope that the rest of my family was still alive.

"Meria!" Jules cried, literally. "W-wait! I have keys! I have keys!" With a shaking hand, she dug in the pockets of her baggy jogger's pants - which is odd because Jules doesn't wear those types of pants - and retrieved a few keys. "They told me that this would happen but I didn't believe them!" She tried the first key. "I thought they were just messing around with my emotions." Didn't work. She tried the second key. "I didn't think I'd see you again." Still, no luck. She tried the third key. "They told me you'd be alive and safe. That they drugged your eggs and orange juice so they can quietly bring you here." The third key didn't work. Jules tried the fourth key. "I'm just glad you're safe, M." She unlocked the door and as soon as it opened, she threw herself onto me in the biggest hug I had ever received. We hugged like this in so long.

Wait, what just happened?

Did I just escape a kidnapping? With my kidnapped sister?

Was it really that easy?

* * *

 **Please review! Sorry I haven't been updating lately. I've been focusing on finding a job, and I got one!**

 **Thank you all for the support and positive feedback, I love you all!**


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